


Down By the Riverside

by Falcon_Etti



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Developing Relationship, Post-Star Wars: A New Hope, Pre-Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, very slight amount of sexual innuendo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-12
Updated: 2020-12-12
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:35:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,299
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28032504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Falcon_Etti/pseuds/Falcon_Etti
Summary: Some Leia and Han moments as observed by a new character--an outsider perspective watching as their romance and relationship grows.
Relationships: Leia Organa/Han Solo
Comments: 4
Kudos: 17





	Down By the Riverside

Kivah was fine—well, she felt comfortable enough—around the mission crew, the captain and the Wookie but Princess Leia made her nervous. Kivah grew up on Coruscant, saw the princess on the holos as a young royal, then Senator, then outlaw. She was famous. She was more than their boss—she was the superstar of the Rebellion, a member of high command and an actual, real life princess. 

Kivah had no idea how to act around the princess. Was she supposed to bow? Did she have to wait to speak until she was spoken to? Someone should have provided instructions before putting them all on the same ship. 

As they were assembling on the Millennium Falcon and preparing to leave the base, the princess talked to the crew, thanking them for helping with the mission.

“You’re Kivah, right?” Princess Leia shook her hand, looking her directly in the eyes. It was a friendly gesture but Kivah felt paralyzed. She nodded, muttered a barely audible 'yes, your highness'. 

“We don’t need to rely on formalities, especially when we’re working together so closely. Please call me Leia.” 

“Rely on formalities?” Captain Solo stood at the lounge entrance, hands on hips and looking at her with a slight grin. “Rely on formalities sounds a lot like formalities, Princess.” 

Leia didn’t roll her eyes but also didn’t hide her look of exasperation. 

“Ready to go, Captain?” She picked her rucksack back up and walked toward the quarters. “We’re on a tight schedule.” 

“Of course, your highnessness.” He gave a slight bow as she walked past. Kivah tried to read if this was a mocking gesture or something she should do. 

“Strap in, everyone,” Solo said as he walked toward the cockpit. “We’re outta here in five.” 

In the six months since Kivah joined the Rebellion, she’d gone back and forth between three bases and two frigate command centres. She usually followed a battle or delivery of new equipment, some issue or project that required extra mechanics or that extra touch. She could fix almost anything and was in high demand as half the Rebel fleet was held together by wishful thinking and glue. 

This time, they’d set up a temporary camp, tucked into the side of a mountain, surrounded by trees. They were delivering equipment (radios, comm units, pieces to build and/or supplement shields) to a nearby Rebel cell. As they pulled everything from the Falcon it became abundantly clear how piece-meal everything looked. Other than one radio that was shiny and new, the rest were reconditioned, repurposed units that were hopefully compatible when they were all fit together. 

“People with money want to make more money,” Captain Solo said. He and Chewbacca were pulling the equipment from the ship and leaving it on the ramp for the crew to unload. Nobody was asking for commentary on the state of the delivery or the financial prospects of the Rebellion but he offered one anyway. “No one’s making a profit with the do-gooders. Money is with the Empire so that’s who they support.”

“Our supply chain and donations have steadily grown.” Princess Leia sounded slightly irritated by his comments but she also wasn’t bothering to look at him. She crossed items off a list on her datapad as they came off the ship. “Especially since the Death Star.”

Kivah noted the princess didn’t include Alderaan, even though her planet’s destruction by the Death Star was a big reason many offered support for the Rebellion. 

“This version of ‘grow’ works as long as you keep people like Kivah around who can make this old crap work.” 

“Captain, I don’t know how you manage with this constant cynicism.” The princess turned her attention to the equipment piled in the clearing beside the Falcon. Kivah suspected this was such an old, well-worn, conversation for them that neither of them put much effort into it anymore. “Doesn’t it exhaust you? It exhausts me.”

“Cynicism and self-preservation are what gets me up every morning, Princess.”

Kivah spent the day working with Jopher, the comms specialist, and Daen’teri, another mechanic, assembling the pieces to make sure they all worked, and making adjustments as necessary. Then they pulled everything apart again to get it ready transport to the next location. Chewbacca and Solo, and even the princess, helped out but they were mostly occupied with surveying and securing the area and trying to make contact with the cell. 

Even though Solo and the princess seemed to bicker at a constant pace, they also seemed to work in an easy harmony. They didn’t ask, ‘what’s next?’ or suggest a task. Kivah wondered if they were providing clues and directions for each other that she was missing. He handed her a tool, or cup of kaffe, before she asked. Fixed a connection issue on her comm before she even noted the problem. She silently passed him equipment as he headed out on patrol and had the datapad ready for his report when he returned. They didn’t discuss these things, just knew when it was time and when it was needed. They bickered, they teased, they occasionally mocked, but were actually a well-oiled machine as far as actions and the mission were concerned. 

They only seemed genuinely angry with each other a couple times and never about anything Kivah thought was important. Solo couldn’t find the datapad with the manifest for the next delivery and it turned into a fight about who was better suited to organize a party for the Rebel rank-and-file that was obviously never in the works and would probably never happen. She wondered if they could make contact with a group that might have medical supplies and they ended up arguing how hot water should be for tea. 

On their third morning at camp, Kivah was feeling restless. Other than taking her turn at watch, checking and rechecking equipment that remained in good working order, there was little to do. She stopped by the Falcon but didn’t see Chewbacca or Solo and wasn’t comfortable assigning herself a task. There was probably something for her to do but she couldn’t make that call. Instead, she got herself a cup of kaffe and wondered down to the river. 

Kivah wasn’t great at just sitting—sitting and doing nothing felt very strange—but she decided to give it a try. There weren’t a lot of options at the moment. She found a place set back from the riverbank, still nestled in the woods where she could lean against a tree and stretch out. She was in the shade and still had a good view of the river and its lazy current. 

However, she was fast asleep before she had her first sip of kaffe. 

Her eyes fluttered open to the sound of nearby voices. It took a few moments to recognize them because Solo and the princess weren’t bickering. In fact, it sounded like a perfectly pleasant conversation. 

She looked through the trees to see them standing close to the water. Kivah realized they couldn’t see her, and probably wouldn’t if she stayed put. She was feeling paralyzed by politeness and social anxiety, and also still a bit groggy from her nap, so she kept her place and stayed quiet. 

Solo was fiddling with some wire while the princess watched. She was wearing her Alliance-issued uniform with a short sleeve shirt, her hair was in a long braid, coiled around the crown of her head. Solo wore his own uniform of blood stripe pants with a holster strapped to his right thigh. The sleeves of his white shirt were rolled up past his elbows. 

“Do you know what you’re doing?” Her hands were clasped behind her back and she leaned in to look. 

“Coming back to me.” He was using pliers to twist a small piece of wire. “Sorta.” 

She laughed. Kivah noted that there was nothing mocking in her tone. It was a genuine laugh, a nice moment between them. 

This wasn’t the first time Kivah noticed Solo and the princess getting along. She saw smiles when they didn’t think anyone was looking. He sometimes touched her arm while walking past. Or she squeezed his hand to say thanks. These moments sometimes happened in the midst of their game of one-upping each other with nicknames and taunts. It was easy for most people to miss them but Kivah watched for the cracks and the pieces rather than focusing on the whole. 

“So, you’re not an experienced fisher?” He looked at her, tilting his head. “Fisher seems wrong,” she said. “Fisherman?” 

“Mostly making this up as I go.” 

“So, the usual. At least this time our lives aren’t in danger.” 

“Well, I haven’t cooked the fish yet.” 

Princess Leia put a hand on Solo’s hip, moving him slightly out of the way, as she passed him to sit on a boulder. He watched her walk past, one side of his mouth turned up in a slight smile. 

She crossed her legs and leaned back on her straight arms. “How long do you think you could survive in the wilderness?” 

He looked at her suspiciously. “Depends. Am I stuck with you or Chewie?”

“Neither. Let’s just say, and this is off the top of my head, I definitely haven’t been thinking about this at all, you were left behind on the mission.”

He was now threading the bent piece of wire on to a line. “Could probably last a while. I can shoot things.”

“But you have to cook things, too. And start fires. There’s not unlimited ammo in this scenario.”

“Think you’d do better?”

“I’ve had outdoor and wilderness training. It’s where I met Kier and Amilyn.”

“Right. But wasn’t that more hiking in the mountains then having dinner in the chalet?”

“It was a bit more rigorous than that.”

“But no hunting, fishing or camping.” He pulled small plastene balls from his pocket and started attaching them to the line. 

“I joined the Rebellion and I was elected to the Senate. I didn’t have time for level two.”

“And now you’re fishing about fishing.”

This time she did roll her eyes. “Ugh. That was beneath you.”

He laughed. “Yeah, not my best work.”

“Have you caught anything before?”

“I’ve caught plenty, Sweetheart.” He gave her a side-glance, his voice a low rumble. 

“I meant something you can…” Her cheeks reddened and she quickly looked away. 

He stopped what he was doing to stare at her. A wide grin crossed his face. “Were you going to say, ‘Something you can eat’?” He broke out into a loud laugh. “What was that, Princess?” He leaned in closer to her. “Something I can eat?”

She leaned forward, face in hands and groaning. “Shut up, shut up!” She sat up straight again and dropped her hands. Her face was still red but she was laughing. “Move on, Solo! We’re never to speak of this again.” 

“Oh, Leia.” He shook his head slowly. “We will speak of this every day.” 

She stretched a leg out and gave him a playful kick. He grinned and turned back to his improvised fishing line. 

Kivah realized she was watching something most people hadn’t seen. If she was the kind of person to share gossip, or even talk much to anyone, this would be a good story to share. 

She’d always been a loner. It wasn’t that she never had any friends. There were friends at school, even some she stayed in loose contact with after graduation. But she always preferred working in her grandfather’s repair shop, fixing appliances, small engines, radios, or whatever was dropped off. The shop was always busy, which helped after her grandparents died since, by that point, she didn’t have much outside of work. 

Jopher was a few years ahead of her in school but he remembered her when he popped into the shop. She easily fixed a holo-com unit and receiver for him and, after some quick questions to determine where she landed on the Empire question, he suggested the Alliance could use someone with her skills. 

The truth was, up until that point, she would have described herself as neutral on the Empire question. In fact, she really hadn’t thought about it much at all. She had a fairly easy and comfortable life with her grandparents and she paid little attention to what the Empire did or didn’t do. But she knew there was little for her if she stayed in the same spot and Jopher made her think she could have an impact. So, she sold what she could and made her way to the rendezvous point. 

“Hey, can you hand me…” Solo scanned the ground near their feet. “There. Could you hand me that?” 

The princess picked up the stick and passed it to him. He wound one end of the line around it. 

“Is this how you fix the Falcon? Improvising with found wire and plastene balls?” 

“The Falcon is a fine-tuned, high precision machine.” He attached bait to the hook and tossed it into the river, keeping hold of the stick. “And you should never look under the hood to see what’s holding her together.”

They waited in silence for a few moments while Solo minded his fishing line and the princess looked lost in thought. 

“I’m picturing dozens of pittins running in wheels,” she said. “Running madly to keep the Falcon going.” She moved her hands quickly in circles, imitating the pittins in said wheels. 

He squinted while staring her down. “You know, with that attitude, you’re gonna be stuck eating rehydrated meat patties and tubers while the rest of us enjoy fresh fish.”

Kivah’s first few weeks with the Rebellion had been a bit overwhelming. So many new rules, faces, names to remember. Everyone seemed friendly, invited her to sit with them at meals or to enjoy a drink or game of cards. But she always politely declined and kept to herself so the invitations died down. The only being she felt at all comfortable with was Chewbacca and that was largely because conversation wasn’t possible, for her at least. Also, he mostly radiated calm and was happy just sitting or working alongside each other. 

It was also a new feeling, now that she was helping the Rebellion with their cause, to belong to something that felt bigger than herself. It was about more than her tiny world with her grandparents and the shop, more than the satisfaction of completing a task, fixing something that seemed beyond repair. She was helping with a small piece of a greater operation and they were, sometimes very slowly, making a difference. 

Maybe that’s why she was so fascinated by the princess. Most of the time Kivah saw her, Princess Leia was in charge. She was physically tiny but took up a lot of space. Kivah knew that people didn’t forget when the princess was in a room. Princess Leia knew people were watching her, listening to her. Kivah thought that must be exhausting—knowing that so much was expected of you, that you had to always be on. People called the princess tough, all business, frigid. She was hot-tempered, unreasonable, blinded by personal motivations. They also called her kind, a martyr, too good to be true. Kivah never heard anyone call the princess funny, light-hearted, relaxed. But that was the princess Kivah saw at that moment. 

Everyone, or almost everyone, thought Solo had a temper and was a bit erratic but always up for a good time. (Kivah was pretty sure “a good time” implied more than one thing in this context.) He seemed to shout and laugh in equal measure. He could quickly suss out a room and find a way to set things off-balance so he’d get the upper hand. Kivah thought it was a survival technique. Knock people down before they could get to you. Even if it was meant in good fun, Solo didn’t trust anyone else to have control. And yet, he and the princess were enjoying an easy back and forth, teasing not bickering, understanding the joke. 

Solo pulled at the line a lot, moving it through the water. He seemed unable to stand still and let the fish come to him. 

“Losing patience?” 

“Not as much fun once you’ve built the rig.” He didn’t sigh but he sounded fed up. 

He sat beside her, slowly pulling in the line and wrapping it around the stick.

“I think you’re supposed to enjoy the waiting,” she said. 

“I can handle waiting.” He turned to look at her. “But for something better.” 

“Better than fish?” 

He smiled without saying anything. She turned away after a moment, not blushing or stressed. 

“You don’t remember the waiting part from the first time you fished?” 

“Probably didn’t last long then, either.” He tossed his improvised fishing rod to the side. “I was in a do-gooder home for a bit. Took the city kids for country air so we could learn about nature. Or prove nature existed, I guess. Not a lot trees where I grew up.” 

“Only for a bit?” 

“Got kicked out. Wasn’t my fault, though. I swear.” 

“Never is, Captain.” 

Kivah turned at the sound of more voices coming down the path. Daen’teri appeared with a towel, looking ready for a swim. Chewie was close behind. While the three humans gave brief hellos and tried not to look too uncomfortable with the surprise run-in, Chewie gave a quick sniff in the air and turned to look at Kivah. 

She immediately felt guilty. Even though she hadn’t considered it spying while she listened to their private conversation, it very clearly was and she was an intruder. Her face went red and she quickly turned away. It was one thing to listen in a public space when people knew they could be watched but another to hide and observe. When she looked back, Chewie gave her a quick wave. He didn’t seem angry but she felt terrible. 

Using the distraction of their slightly awkward conversation and a Wookie blocking the view, Kivah stood and started walking back to camp. She moved slowly, as quietly as she could.

“Sorry if I’m intruding,” Daen’teri said. “I didn’t know anyone was down here.” 

“Captain Solo was demonstrating his fishing skills,” Princess Leia replied. “Or were you demonstrating your short attention span?” 

“Just trying to pass the time, Princess.” The edge had returned to both their voices. “Not a lot of excitement while we sit here waiting for the Empire to find us.” 

Kivah heard the princess’ voice rising but didn’t hear her response. 

She found Jopher back at camp, keeping watch over the sensors. 

“You do some sight-seeing?” He was tapping the screen on the sensor, checking readings. 

She shrugged, trying to look casual. “Just trying to keep busy.”

“Daen went for a swim. Don’t know where the bosses are but can’t hear them fighting so they can’t be together.” 

Kivah sat down with him but didn’t say anything. 

“Unless the rumours are true?” It sounded like Jopher was joking but he was absorbed in the sensor scan. Tagging on the rumours question was more out of habit than actual interest or investment in the topic. 

She felt guilty about eavesdropping—she was going to have to be more careful about that kind of thing—but also a bit excited about what she witnessed. She was in on a secret and, if there was one thing Kivah was good at (beyond fixing anything mechanical), it was keeping secrets. 

Kivah smiled at Jopher. She stretched her legs out and prepared to wait--for the Rebel cell to arrive, the next mission she would be sent on, the next piece of the puzzle in this new world she was discovering bit by bit.

**Author's Note:**

> Trying different angles as I work through stories rattling around my brain. Kivah might appear again. Hopefully, it's a fun way to tell the story and not too much of a distraction from the main action. 
> 
> Also, the title has no connection to the song other than I like the song and I like the title.


End file.
